The Yankees have a lot of parts that could use some fixin’. The team has decided to focus on the starting rotation despite the many young starting pitching prospects working their way up through the organization. Last week, I largely focused on first base, where the Yankees have a big hole and the free agent market offers the perfect player to fill it. During the 2008 season, two major areas of concern were second base and catcher, but the Yankees have very talented players signed to long-term contracts at each of those positions, both of which are very shallow in terms of the talent available league-wide. Third base is not broken, nor, for the moment is shortstop or the bullpen, but the Yankees’ outfield and designated hitter situation very much is.

Here are the players who started for the Yankees at the three outfield positions and DH last year:

Player

Starts

LF

CF

RF

DH

Stats

OPS+

Bobby Abreu

152

–

–

148

4

.296/.371/.471

120

Johnny Damon

133

75

33

–

25

.303/.375/.461

118

Melky Cabrera

112

1

109

2

–

.249/.301/.341

68

Hideki Matsui

88

20

–

2

66

.294/.370/.424

108

Xavier Nady

58

45

–

6

7

.268/.320/.474

105

Brett Gardner

32

15

17

–

–

.228/.283/.299

53

Jason Giambi

26

–

–

–

26

.247/.418/.506

140*

Jorge Posada

15

–

–

–

15

.231/.365/.385

97*

Justin Christian

10

6

3

1

–

.250/.320/.325

65

3 others

13

–

–

3

10

Total LF

162

162

–

–

–

.284/.349/.427

98*

Total CF

162

–

162

–

–

.261/.320/.391

89*

Total RF

162

–

–

162

–

.290/.362/.451

104*

Total DH

153

–

–

–

153

.282/.378/.461

118*

*adjusted for position

Center field was a disaster, the aggregate numbers at the position having been inflated slightly by Johnny Damon’s .294/.378/.529 line in 33 starts there. With Damon helping out in center and DH, the team’s performance in left field dipped below average. Designated hitter was also buoyed by Damon, but even moreso by the outstanding work of Jason Giambi, who has since departed as a free agent, as well as seven strong starts from Alex Rodriguez (.333/.414/.625). Meanwhile, Bobby Abreu, who started all but ten games in right field and kept that position in the black, has also headed off to find perhaps his final fortune as a free agent, leaving right field in the hands of Xavier Nady, whose .268/.320/.474 line as a Yankee was a far more accurate representation of his abilities than the .330/.383/.535 he hit in Pittsburgh over the first four months of the season. Last year, the average right fielder hit .276/.347/.451. Nady’s career line is .280/.335/.458, and he’s a sub-par defender.

Here are the Yankees’ other in-house options in the outfield:

Player

Age*

Level

LF

CF

RF

DH

2008 Stats

OPS+

Johnny Damon

35

MLB

75

33

–

25

.303/.375/.461

118

Hideki Matsui

34

MLB

20

–

2

66

.294/.370/.424

108

Xavier Nady

30

MLB

45

–

88

8

.305/.357/.510

128

Nick Swisher

28

MLB

16

69

11

–

.219/.332/.410

92

Melky Cabrera

24

MLB

1

109

2

–

.249/.301/.341

68

Brett Gardner

25

AAA

20

71

–

–

.296/.414/.422

–

Justin Christian

29

AAA

44

19

3

1

.306/.357/.444

–

Shelley Duncan

29

AAA

3

–

21

17

.239/.365/.483

–

Austin Jackson

22

AA

2

111

–

17

.285/.354/.419

–

Colin Curtis

24

AA

92

23

1

14

.255/.329/.368

–

*on Opening Day 2009

The problem with this list is that the Yankees’ best outfielder (setting aside the career year Nady won’t repeat) is their oldest, while their youngest (from among those with major league experience) is their worst. As it stands now, the Yankees have a giant hole in center field, a rapidly aging DH coming off knee surgery who is no longer viable in the field (Matsui), an average-at-best right fielder, and a 35-year-old Johnny Damon in left with little on the way other than Austin Jackson, who just hit .246/.298/.377 in the hitter-friendly Arizona Fall League and has yet to play above Double-A.